JENA
2012Goals
To deepen our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the relationships between plant diversity and ecosystem processes based on a long-term experiment (Jena – experiment) on biodiversity. To provide a comprehensive assessment of the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
Number of rooms used
- 12
Project Duration
- 18 months
Exploring the mechanisms underlying the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
Researchers
Jacques Roy ; Alexandru Milcu ; Christianne Roscher ; Dörte Bachmann ; Annette Gockele ; Markus Guderle ; Damien Landais ; Clément Piel ; Christophe Escape ; Sebastien Devidal ; Olivier Ravel ; Nina Buchmann ; Arthur Gessler ; Gerd Gleixner; Anke Hildebrandt
Informations
Ecotron – ETH – Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Publications
- Functional diversity of leaf nitrogen concentrations drives grassland carbon fluxes. Journal : Ecology Letters Référence LIRE…
- Dynamic niche partitioning in root water uptake facilitates efficient water use in more diverse grassland plant communities. Journal : Functionnal Ecology Référence LIRE…
- Top canopy nitrogen allocation linked to increased grassland carbon uptake in stands of varying species richness. Journal : Scientific Reports Référence https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08819-9
- Biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning in a 15-year grassland experiment: Patterns, mechanisms, and open questions. Journal : Basic and Applied Ecology Référence LIRE…
We took advantage of the new Ecotron facility of the CNRS (Montpellier, France) to study the effects of plant species and functional diversity on C fluxes in model grasslands sampled in a long-term biodiversity experiment (The Jena Experiment). Unique features of the experimental facility include the use of a large lysimeter (2m² and 2m depth) combined with on-line and continuous measurements of C fluxes. We found that increased plant species richness resulted in increased ecosystem uptake of C and increased water use efficiency during the growing season. The mechanisms by which species richness affected C fluxes are discussed.